Liquid hydrocarbons obtained from oil shale or normally solid coal are usually low in sulfur content and, therefore, are good candidates for use as a fuel, for example, in steam boilers. However, such synthetic crude feed streams sometimes have a nitrogen content, primarily in the form of organic nitrogen, which is higher than is desired for fuel.
Prior art processes for reducing the nitrogen content of such synthetic crude materials use up large amounts of expensive hydrogen. Hydrogen take up to saturate olefins, aromatics, etc., in the feed stream is not necessary for fuel stocks.